Is Microsoft’s new version of Windows a radical innovation or a return to the company’s winner-take-all software strategy from a decade ago? Read the report at News.com.
Plan A for Microsoft
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
I can’t believe the amount of press being given to something that will not come out for, what, 3 years at a minimum?
I realize that this is Microsoft’s modus operandi every time their market is threatened (how long did we hear about Cairo?).
If it were 6 months away, I’d actually bother reading all of these articles.
-Steve
I completely agree. I would rather read a PR from a niche fringe OS than than aticle upon article full of pumped up hype for an OS that does not yet exist for public consumption. If you want the latest & greatest from MS you have to dig through the marketing & journalistic spin to get at the meat. If you want the latest & greatest from the FOSS crowd then visit http://kt.zork.net/kernel-traffic/latest.html for a summary of the LKML (linux kernel mailing list) or visit http://www.kerneltrap.org for news about the rest.
With all these articles on Longhorn I haven’t seen one particular thing mentioned, which really surprises me.
I am not exactly sure when it was, but not too long ago Microsoft said that it would release smaller but more frequent updates to Windows because it learned its lesson with Windows 2000 that was in the making for quite some time.
What do we see now? They are going back to the same scheme. They won’t realese the next version of Windows until 2005/6. In order to keep people happy and/or excited they have to get it in the press as much as possible. Everyone – the press – seems to jump on the bandwagon. The funny thing is that nobody even knows how Aero will look like because they want to keep it in their safe until release.
I wish they would stick to their announcements and make more frequent updates. At least we won’t have to listen about Longhorn for the next three years.
I cannot wait until MS releases Longhorn. It will incorporate the functionality, new applications, security and best of all a great user interface. MS Windows 2000 Professional and XP Professional are excellent operating systems. I will upgrade when the time comes, plus they will include copyright protection in the OS to. It is time that people respect the law and stop bootlegging software.
Right on anonymous. I am looking forward to my DRM-enabled office suite so that if anybody at loonytunes.com even thinks about blowing the wistle on something they find “unethical”, we can quickly decertify that document. All of our documents will now have to flow through our DRM-enabled server.
I also hear that my friends in the authoritarian dictatorships of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are looking forward to more control of “information workflow” if you catch my drift. I say, more power to them. Who needs all this talk about human rights and democracy?
If it were not for Microsoft’s innovations, all of the citizens of this country would begin building their cheap computers with some easy version of Linux and, next thing you know, they are online getting their information from “unofficial sources”.
So, you Anonymous, let us toast to the forthcoming arrival of Longhorn. We need to make sure that all those cronies begin “respecting the law”.
I fully agree, let them pay! In fact there is no one I know that has Windows running without any illegal software, this has to stop. And I? well I’m running Linux and am sitting only behind a Windows desktop when shit hit the fan by family and friends.
“I am not exactly sure when it was, but not too long ago Microsoft said that it would release smaller but more frequent updates to Windows because it learned its lesson with Windows 2000 that was in the making for quite some time.”
That was in reference to Service Packs, not OS development. They were supposed to have roughly a yearly schedule. They broke from this schedule with XP SP 2 due to addition of more security features. Plus they now have to account for DOJ change requests like the recent request to move the location of the “Set Program Acces and Defaults” icon on the Start Menu, and more recent discussion of the “Buy Music” link’s functionality.
MS will prevail in this venture, it will be a great OS. It will include many new features and offer more functionality. I am ready for Longhorn, plus with the new laptops with larger screens it will be one word awesome!
I also hear that my friends in the authoritarian dictatorships of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are looking forward to more control of “information workflow” if you catch my drift. I say, more power to them. Who needs all this talk about human rights and democracy?
LOL … human rights. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. Not like anyone’s pointing a gun to your head and forcing you to use it. At least not yet
I’m not seeing XAML based services having great sucess as it might seem.
That’s because most people i know (if not all) have pirated copies of windows in their home computers so a DRM enabled system (at least in my country and many others) won’t have such a big impact. Even if people, get their OS legally (by means of purchasing a new computer, notably a laptop) they can’t get many more than that or they aren’t willing to. As soon as they notice that they can’t copy software as easy as today they’ll switch to more open architectures.
This could make uge markets like China and India stop using DRM enabled products too. So the XAML/DRM/whatever strategy won’t work.
The bottom line is that if MS has these big marketshare over the competition, IMHO, is because piracy exists!! This is the greatest marketing strategy! Without that, products will only fit in a market niche. They’re shooting themselves in the foot not going with standards, stifling competition and abuse consumer’s trust.
They’re shooting themselves in the foot not going with standards, stifling competition and abuse consumer’s trust.
Standards, what standards? The open source (mainly Linux) crowd absolutely refuses to standardize on distributions, package managers, window managers, toolkits, etc … but yet they’re always whinning about standards. It seems what they really want is for companies like MS to simply open up their file formats/APIs and give everything to them for free. Yeah, sure .. they’re gonna do that … when hell freezes over.
Longhorn is a disposable product. Anyone who wants to use a real operating system is forced to choose between Solaris, Linux, or BSD.
I mean with that layer that new application layer (middleware) that they are leveraging, the Microsoft platform is no longer, it’s now a disposable product which is (maybe) fine for businesses and it is fine for home users, but it sucks ass for the developer, it’s like being put in hand cuffs and taken to prison.
MS still doesn’t matter regardless of how stupid redh is.
microsofts longhorn is gonna be the biggest disappointment next to Matrix: Revolutions
microsoft…the new apple. with the way things r going and peeple wanting more freedom with thier computers, its hard for me to understand y MS would b trying to push to make stuff that only works on their OS which will only run their browser, which is integrated and cannot b run on other OS. o well, by the time long-ways-away, long-on-hype, or whatever they want to call it is here, linux will b more then ready for the desktop.
I mean with that layer that new application layer (middleware) that they are leveraging, the Microsoft platform is no longer, it’s now a disposable product which is (maybe) fine for businesses and it is fine for home users, but it sucks ass for the developer, it’s like being put in hand cuffs and taken to prison
My thoughts exactly. Plus, the new XAML system will quite likely sprout an infinite flow of useless interfaces. I’m sure there are technologies in Longhorn that will be awesome (it’s still too early to give it any educated reviews, whatsoever), but it sure feel like a complete jail. Making cross platform applications will be a nightmare.
Of course, every once in a while there needs to be a paradigm shift, and that always leads to some difficulties in the beginning. But when the shift comes from a Microsoft that, more than ever, seems to strive for complete technological isolation, it’s just plain annoying and dangerous.
If Linux also used a software layer in order to separate Linux the platform from Linux the product, than the open source community would be decoupled from the vendor, and both entities could find freedom through abstraction. The vendor would be able to offer rich business solutions to their customers who gain productivity by specializing through the reuse of vendor objects (access to the R&D but not open to generalization) and organized by a logical, extensible and flexible framework.
I just *LOVE* the BSA advertisements on OSNews.com. Keep it up!
EVERYONE should do their best to report their friends, family, neighbors and anyone they happen to find using unlicensed commercial software, like MS Windows, to the BSA! Don’t wait, report them immediately. They deserve it!
If the changes in Longhorn are as significant as PR is saying, it will be a long time before you can start developing them on a large scale. If you look at that pie chart in the article only a quarter of PCs running Windows are using XP. Let’s say Longhorn comes out in 2006, it won’t be until almost 2010 that mostly everyone is running Longhorn and you can start creating XAML apps or programs that take advantage of .NET / SQL without worrying if most of your users are capable of running them. I can write a batch file, or WSH script and know that it will work on almost everyone’s windows except 95 and before because the technology has been there quite a long time. What they should do is release some of these new features now for existing XP clients so people start using them by the time Longhorn rolls out.
I refuse to use anything after win2000. It has been the OS that has served me very well the last 4 years. XP and onwards are exactly the same core OS as 2000 just with more useless crap piled on that people dont want or need.
Microsoft is depending on the unlearned masses to purchase/upgrade to LongHorn (probably around 90% of the market). Once this happens, developers will have no option but to develop using the more advanced proprietary Microsoft features. Don’t be surprised to see Microsoft sell Longhorn Upgrade for about $60.00 and own the entire market soon after.
On a positive note, in general, both Windows 2000 and Windows XP are great OS’s, and judging by this trend, I think Longhorn might not be too bad of an OS to be stuck with.
I do believe once longhorn is here, there will be no need for other operating systems. Either they will be assimilated, or only used by a few refuge g33ks.
Longhorn will revolutionise the world of computing as we know it today, with integrated DRM, DirectX and Extensive Server Capabilities.
You arn’t the only one.
Longhorn might revolutionize slavery but’s that’s about it.
It is time that people respect the law and stop bootlegging software.
Or, better yet, use free/open source software! 🙂
MS will prevail in this venture, it will be a great OS. It will include many new features and offer more functionality.
I don’t know about you guys and gals, but I’m almost certain the former Iraqi information minister has found a new home trolling on OSNews.
It seems what they really want is for companies like MS to simply open up their file formats/APIs and give everything to them for free. Yeah, sure .. they’re gonna do that … when hell freezes over.
Or when the DOJ finally puts its pants on and forces them to open up the file formats in order to prevent them from abusing their monopoly.
While there is no “standard” Linux distro, this is not what is meant by “open standards.” Open Standards mean standards that anyone can use, therefore creating a “level playing field” for all participants (if you’re in favor of free markets, surely you agree with this notion). There are many such open standards: HTML, XML, RTF, PNG, etc.
If MS thinks that they need closed standards in order to maintain their dominion, then one can only conclude that they don’t have much faith in their products – otherwise they’d compete fairly.
Ah, yes. Plan A deals with the resurrection of the dead. Long distance electrodes shot into the pineal and pituitary gla…
Oops, sorry, wrong project. Never mind.
or do all the MS fan boys sound like Fundamentalist Bible Thumping Baptists?
“…time long-ways-away, long-on-hype, or whatever they want to call it is here, linux will b more then ready for the desktop.”
I have just been hearing that for the past five years and now you have RedHat saying Linux isn’t ready for the desktop yet. I honestly don’t see how you can say that Linux will be ready for the masses on the desktop by 2005-2006. It is almost 2004 now. That is a pretty tight deadline.
“Or when the DOJ finally puts its pants on and forces them to open up the file formats in order to prevent them from abusing their monopoly.”
Do you honestly believe after the number of failed attempts to use the DOJ against Microsoft that by some miracle Microsoft will suddenly get the book thrown at them?
Consider for moment just a few figures and what they could represent in political favors:
During the 2000 election cycle Microsoft was the 5th largest donor with $4,674,103 in total contributions with 47% to the Democrats and 53% to the Republicans. In 2002 they placed 12th with $4,354,698 in contributions with 40% to the Democrats and 59% to the Republicans. The 2004 election cycle has barely started to get geared up and they have already donated $112,060 with 84% headed to the Democrats and 16% to the Republicans. Clearly Microsoft can get the aid of people in higher offices throughout the country. Further, in 2000 they spent $6,360,000 in lobbyists…which was during a time when they were under DOJ investigation. Yet you still seem to think that Microsoft will be shut down by the same government whose power players receive donations regularly from Microsoft?!
For reference on my numbers I suggest “opensecrets.org.” Here are the URLs:
http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topcontribs.asp?Cycle=2004&Bkdn…
http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/client.asp?ID=15822
I look forward to longhorn being released
my hobby is “studying shit” and I need more samples
stop all this windows flaming, you will all cry and slag it off but i bet every single one of you has a copy of it on one of your machines. This forum is full of moaners and flamers. Long may microsoft reap the rewards of a totally secure and user friendly system for all the masses. Do I need to tell you all where you can shove your copy of open source linux?
We’re at the end of a five-year upgrade cycle brought on by Y2K. Most companies are loth to spend billions on new hardware when they’ve just done forklift overhauls of the infrastructures; instead, they’ll squeeze as much use and depreciation out of their h/w as possible. The Achilles’ Heel of Longhorn is that it will for the most part require yet another h/w upgrade, whereas XP needed maybe a RAM upgrade. What I foresee is a huge backlash, with most of the Longhorn technologies being back-ported to XP by means of service-packs.
and now you have RedHat saying Linux isn’t ready for the desktop yet.
Can we stop misquoting RedHat’s CEO? He stated that Linux was more than ready for the enterprise desktop.
Also, what the RedHat CEO says is one thing, it should definitely be taken with a grain of salt.
My system is amd k62 400 256mb ram win 2000 6gig hard drive
i am assuming that users of win 98 win 2000 an xp
Will be out of luck Alot of us just cant afford to go out an buy a new pc my system does me fine………
Oh well i guess its drop my internet connection
Cause why would anyone now buy a new computer when it be ready ready for longhorn……….
will linux or bsd users be able to connect to the internet
“Can we stop misquoting RedHat’s CEO? He stated that Linux was more than ready for the enterprise desktop.”
How is this misquoting? For the masses Linux is not ready for the desktop. I never said anything about the enterprise did I? I use Linux by the way…but lets face reality for just a second. The majority of computer users are not likely to jump to Linux anytime soon. The majority of users out there simply don’t want to use a product that requires them to learn as much about their computer as Linux requires in order to be installed, configured, and given the apps needed.
Now can we return to the issue at hand…MS.
Is part of advance selling of a product. As long as MS can stoke people’s interest – even negative interest; as long as people have “Longhorn” in their mind, they will be more likely to go for the product in a few years. Innoculate the populace now to the legal and cross platform compatability issues and they will be more likely to resist the negative arguments later.
That is why the LA Times did their little “hit peice” on Arnold a week before the recall election: people would not have time to get over the emotional negativity. In theory it works, but in this last case, it actually backfired.
MS hopes that the SCO vs IBM and “is Linux safe from legal action” fog remains in the air long enough for Longhorn to make a successful showing. As long as companies delay moving to Linux, they will be more likely to adopt Longhorn.
On the good side, due to the Anti-American sentiment in Europe, Linux stands a very good chance of displacing Windows. This is good because: international businesses will demand a platform that can communicate with their offices everywhere. If Longhorn pulls the communicate my way or not at all, then Longhorn will Windows marketshare. If MS is smart, they will make sure that Longhorn can easily communicate with otherplatforms, while anything produced on Longhorn can only be oped – or at least edited only, in Longhorn.
But this is mere speculation… a random thought
“It is time that people respect the law and stop bootlegging software.”
Like DRM is really going to stop the pirates for long…
How is this misquoting? For the masses Linux is not ready for the desktop. I never said anything about the enterprise did I?
It’s misquoting because he didn’t textually say that Linux isn’t ready for the desktop – in fact, he specifically said that Linux was more than ready for the business desktop. Saying that Linux “isn’t ready for the desktop” implies that it’s not ready for the business desktop either. The desktop doesn’t stop at the home, and unless you specify the home market, simply referring to “the desktop” includes the enterprise market as well. Ergo, it is misquoting (or rather, minsinterpreting) what he says, because it runs contrary to what he actually said as far as the business desktop is concerned.
lets face reality for just a second. The majority of computer users are not likely to jump to Linux anytime soon
They don’t need to. What is important is growth. As long as Linux continues enjoying the current growth, then all is well. Also, this growth could be dramatically increased on the international level when considering the number of foreign governments that are adopting Linux and OSS solutions over Microsoft. Those are desktop as well, thousands of them.
The majority of users out there simply don’t want to use a product that requires them to learn as much about their computer as Linux requires in order to be installed, configured, and given the apps needed.
Well, as long as you have people who further these myths, then of course people will be turned off. But in fact, Linux has come a long way in ease of installation and use. With distros such as Lindows, one can make the case that Linux is in fact easier to use than Windows.
Now can we return to the issue at hand…MS.
You’re the one who brought Linux into this.
Ditto. Windows 2000 works for me. With XP, all they added was eye candy and mucked around with the UI in an effort to dumb it down, and just made it that much harder to use.
No, I only anti-ms trolling
the other posting was by Hugh, my workmate. We are both behind a firewall in work that sends out 1 IP address for ever PC in the building, well over 1200.
This can be a little confusing if we post on the same forums as individual users, it is confusing, but not really a problem.
What is bad though, is that a lot of online games barr us because they only see one IP address and automatically think it is one person setting up multiple accounts
This anonymous guy is either Bill Gates himself or a rich employee who good give a damn about producing a quality product.
I am not a “geek” so my comments a purely from a users’ standpoint.
The only OS I have ever laid down money for was Be. Even a uninformed user like me knows a bad product when one uses one. I don’t think MS will ever put out a product that I would pay for.
I wish somebody would do a study on the amount of manhours lost at work due to lock-ups, freeze-ups, corrupted files, and re-boots due to a poor quality OS that MS repeatably unleashes on us poor souls.
What is really depressing is it never occurs to 98% of the people that there may be something out there that is of higher quality.